I have never messed with virtual box before and im curious as to the purpose of using this.

what are the most common things people use it for?what can it be used for?

i know it allows you to run a OS within/on top of your main OS but not much more than that.

Also to add to this subject the reason I'm asking is I was gonna set up dual boot (windows/linux) on my pc but thought maybe i could kill 2 birds with one stone and learn how to use this program, as well as using it to load linux and learn how to operate linux.

krona64 wrote:I have never messed with virtual box before and im curious as to the purpose of using this.

what are the most common things people use it for?what can it be used for?

i know it allows you to run a OS within/on top of your main OS but not much more than that.

Also to add to this subject the reason I'm asking is I was gonna set up dual boot (windows/linux) on my pc but thought maybe i could kill 2 birds with one stone and learn how to use this program, as well as using it to load linux and learn how to operate linux.

VirtualBox and other virtual machines (VMs) like it emulate the hardware of a given device (in this case a PC) and allow you to run software for that given device virtually. Usually they're used as you just stated, to run an OS within an OS, although some VMs also allow you to play video games for say, the Game Boy, or something else. The reason most people use said VMs is to run applications that they can't natively run on their current operating system. For instance, when people want to program on Linux, but don't want to install it, they use a VM. Or, when people want to run Windows applications on Linux or Mac (and don't want to mess with WINE), they use a VM.

Another popular reason out there is the added security a VM inherently gives you. Because you're emulating the hardware, the programs within it believe that they're dealing with real hardware, and as such, won't effect the ACTUAL hardware. So, for instance, if you're testing a sketchy program, you can throw it into a VM and safely test it, as it won't effect your actual operating system, just the one in the VM.

As for testing out Linux in a VM, it seems like a wise decision to make. Just know that anything within a VM will be much slower as the computer you're emulating has pretty shitty specs, usually. If you want the true speed and experience of installing Linux, throw it on a shitty old computer, or dual boot it. But for just practice and testing sake, a VM is a good choice.

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. -Rick Cook

Well using a virtualbox or VM is pretty nifty if you ask me. Especially if you have no experience setting up another partition on your hard drive. If you incorrectly dual booted on your main HDD, you could potentially ruin your main partition and all of your precious files and whatnot.As for using a VM, I'd recommend it as a first shot. It allows you to basically run a whole computer within your computer. You never have to log out of your windows account or anything. It'll allow you to learn how to use linux and set it up and install and everything. You can do just about everything you could normally do on an actual linux box or partition. And it is actually a little easier regarding wireless drivers and all that shiz which tend to be pretty tedious even for more rehearsed nix goers. But I'd honestly suggest using it. Downloading virtualbox and setting it up is free and literally painless. And there are plenty of tutorials out there on the net for setting up OS's within it. If you decide to go with it, post back here with any questions or concerns you come across.Damn, I could be a salesman for virtualbox or somethin.

EDIT: Dammit cent, you beat me. But good deal, you hit on the security aspect of it.

I have actually dual booted before and messed around in linux before as well, a long time ago. I think it was ubuntu 6.0 or something another either way i don't remember anything about it and im sure its changed a bit. My concern wasn't possibly corrupting my main HDD, although that's a good point to using one. Also it seems like a good choice as i could play with different linux desktops and find one to my liking.(if that's possible)

I don't intend to use the VM to test applications or software, merely just to learn linux as of right but I do have a couple more questions if you don't mind.

Since running a VM emulates the hardware, is it possible to set the resources said VM uses such that i could have my "main OS" basically running on minimal resources to provide the VM with as much resource power as possible?

Are there any security advantages to running a VM, in the sense of hacking, anonymity, etc etc.?

Can you do everything with a VM that you would be able to do if i were to a partition on my HDD and install said OS? such as tor, downloading files, etc,etc, at a reasonable speed? I'm trying to get an idea of how in depth one can use or push a VM. I don't have a badass computer by any means but still curious.

krona64 wrote:Since running a VM emulates the hardware, is it possible to set the resources said VM uses such that i could have my "main OS" basically running on minimal resources to provide the VM with as much resource power as possible?

Yup, when installing a VM you get to choose exactly how much RAM to allocate, etc.

krona64 wrote:Are there any security advantages to running a VM, in the sense of hacking, anonymity, etc etc.?

Really the only thing I can think of is what I stated above with the security aspect of it.

krona64 wrote:Can you do everything with a VM that you would be able to do if i were to a partition on my HDD and install said OS? such as tor, downloading files, etc,etc, at a reasonable speed? I'm trying to get an idea of how in depth one can use or push a VM. I don't have a badass computer by any means but still curious.

Yes and no. Depending on what you want to do, it might be slower... In fact most things on it will be slower. However, you can still do everything on it that you can do on anything else.

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. -Rick Cook